World’s First Baby Born Using Uterus Transplant From Dead Donor

Any mother would be happy to welcome a healthy daughter into the world but for one Brazilian woman, it is an especially happy time. Even doctors worldwide are now marking the first birthday of that girl.

Why is this such a special birth? Because, not all that long ago, the birth would have been impossible. The reason? The mother did not have a functioning uterus.

The 32-year-old patient had a disorder known as Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH). It is a rare genetic disorder that caused her uterus to not develop.

Uterus transplants have become more and more common. They still are somewhat limited and in most cases, they are provided from live donors, such as family or close friends and given to women who were born without a womb or who could not conceive children.

In this particular case, however, a Brazilian woman received a new uterus from a deceased donor. She was then able to conceive a child successfully and carry the child to full term last year.

Doctors in Brazil managed to pull off this medical miracle, despite 10 other medical teams failing at previous attempts for the same procedure.

This Brazilian woman received a donated uterus from a 45-year-old woman and then underwent a 10-hour surgery. She had to take medication so her body would not reject the newly transplanted uterus.

Seven months after the operation took place, doctors began the in vitro fertilization. Her own eggs were harvested prior to the time that the transplant surgery took place. She became pregnant on the first try.

She went through a fairly typical and healthy pregnancy and then gave birth to a 6-pound baby girl via C-section last year. The only problem associated with the pregnancy is that her uterus was removed during the C-section. As a result, she was able to stop taking the anti-rejection drugs.

This is great news for those who are not able to have children because of a hysterectomy or because of diseases, including cancer. They may be in line to receive a uterus transplant so they can carry their own child.

The woman became pregnant through in vitro fertilization seven months after the transplant. The donor was a 45-year-old woman who had three children and died of a stroke. https://t.co/Jg1NKjWJGg

According to doctors that were involved in this woman’s case, she felt ‘fulfilled’ because she had the opportunity to carry and deliver a baby girl, even though she had a condition that would otherwise have kept her from doing so.

It is estimated that approximately 1 in 10 women in the United States have a problem becoming or staying pregnant. If it ever becomes commonplace for you uterus transplants to occur, it may just change the lives of many women who want to be a mother.